Gracious
God, as we look into the faces of Luke’s Gospel, may it be a starting point
for our own engagement with your word and reflection on its meaning for our
lives. Empower this Gospel that it
may guide us to be a part of your ongoing redemptive work in the world.
Help us to hear of Jesus’ ministry as if we had been eyewitnesses and
to see the implications of this Gospel for our times and for the challenges and
circumstances in which we live. Open
your Living Word to us, we pray. Amen
Each Gospel presents the story of Jesus in a different way. |
MATTHEW’S
Jesus is a new Moses who fulfills the Scripture.
Disciples of Matthew’s Jesus
keep his teachings and make new disciples. |
LUKE’S
Jesus is compassionate; a friend to outcasts; sent to save.
Disciples of Luke’s Jesus are
commissioned to share the Good News of Jesus with all the world; model his
concern for the overlooked; tear down the social barriers that divide and
exclude; and respond with joy to God’s inclusive grace. |
MARK’S
Jesus is a tragic figure, misunderstood and abandoned.
Disciples of Mark’s Jesus take
up the cross and follow Jesus. |
JOHN’S
Jesus is the Word incarnate who was sent to reveal God.
Disciples of John’s Jesus
respond with belief; receive living water; eat the bread of life and become a
part of the community of Jesus. |
MORE TIDBITS ABOUT LUKE’S GOSPEL: |
Most
scholars agree Luke had two resources: Mark’s Gospel and the source Q. The
Gospel does not indicate who wrote it, where it was written, or when. |
Luke
1:1-4 shows Luke in the artisan class, not the elite (He is subordinate to Theophilus). Who is
Theophilus?
A believer! Nothing else is
known of him. |
Luke
also has some stories that are not in any other Gospel – like the well
known Christmas story and the Good Samaritan and Prodigal Son stories. |
Is
Luke a physician? No one knows
for sure, though he does care about healing! |
|
| Professor
David Tiede, formerly of Luther Seminary identifies the first 4 verses of
Luke as perhaps the most elegant sentence in the whole New Testament. |
[1] Inasmuch as many have
undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished
among us,
[2] just as they
were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and
ministers of the word,
|
[3] it seemed good to me also, having followed all
things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most
excellent The-oph'ilus,
[4] that you may know the truth concerning the
things of which you have been informed.
|
THE PROMINENCE OF JOY
IN
LUKE’S GOSPEL
For Luke, the
response of those who see God’s power at work
and hear the good
news of God’s reign is JOY!!!
| THE
BIRTH OF JOHN BROUGHT JOY!
(Luke 1:
14:44
; 58) |
|
[14] And you will have joy
and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth;
[44] For behold, when the
voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.
[58] And her neighbors and
kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced
with her. |
|
THE
BIRTH OF JESUS BROUGHT GREAT JOY!!!
(Luke 2:10)
10] And the angel said to them, "Be not afraid; for behold,
I bring you good news of a great
joy which will come to all the people; |
|
THE
SEVENTY JESUS SENT ON
MISSION
RETURNED FILLED WITH JOY AT WHAT
THEY HAD SEEN. (Luke 10:17)
[17] The seventy returned
with joy, saying, "Lord, even
the demons are subject to us in your name!" |
|
JESUS
REMINDS THE SCRIBES & PHARISEES THAT THERE IS JOY IN HEAVEN OVER ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS.
(Luke 15:7, 10) |
[7] Just so, I tell you,
there will be more joy in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no
repentance.
[8] "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin,
does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds
it? |
[9] And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and
neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me,
for I have found the coin which I had lost.'
[10] Just so, I tell you,
there is joy before the angels of God
over one sinner who repents." |
|
JOY
IS THE RESPONSE OF THE DISCIPLES TO THE APPEARANCE OF THE RISEN LORD. (Luke
24:41-52) |
[41] And while they still
disbelieved for joy, and wondered, he
said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
[42] They gave
him a piece of broiled fish,
[43] and he took it and ate before them.
[44]
Then he said to them, "These are my words which I spoke to you, while I was
still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the
prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled."
[45] Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,
[46] and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should
suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, |
[47] and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in
his name to all nations, beginning from
Jerusalem
{48] You are witnesses of these things.
[49] And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in
the city, until you are clothed with power from on high."
[50] Then he led them out as far as
Bethany
; lifting up his hands he blessed them.
[51] While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into
heaven.
[52] And they returned to
Jerusalem
with great joy, |
ALONG
WITH THE PROMINENCE OF
JOY
IS
THE ACCOMPANYING RESPONSE OF PRAISE
In Luke those who see the power
of God at work or hear the good news are not only filled with joy, but their
response is to glorify/praise/bless God as well (doxology)
|
ZECHARIAH
PRAISES GOD WHEN HIS MOUTH IS
OPENED AFTER HE WROTE ON THE TABLET: “HIS NAME IS JOHN.” (Luke 1:64)
[64] And immediately his
mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. |
|
THE
SHEPHERDS RESPOND WITH PRAISE TO
JESUS’ BIRTH.(Luke
2:20
)
[20] And the shepherds
returned, glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. |
|
SIMEON
TAKES JESUS IN HIS ARMS AND PRAISES
GOD. (Luke 2:28)
[28] he took him up in his
arms and praised God and said, |
|
THE
PARALYTIC AND THOSE WITNESSING HIS HEALING GLORIFY GOD. (Luke 5:25-26)
[25] And immediately he
rose before them, and took up that on which he lay, and went home, glorifying
God. [26] And amazement
seized them all, and they glorified God
and were filled with awe, saying, "We have seen strange things today."
|
THE
RAISING OF THE SON OF THE WIDOW AT NAIN LEADS THE CROWD TO GLORIFY GOD. (Luke
7:16)
[16] Fear seized them all;
and they glorified God, saying,
"A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has
visited his people!" |
THE
CRIPPLED WOMAN RESPONDS TO HER HEALING BY GLORIFYING GOD. (Luke 13:13)
[13] And he laid his hands
upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. |
|
THE
SAMARITAN WITH LEPROSY RESPONDS TO HIS HEALING BY GLORIFYING GOD. (Luke 17:15)
[15] Then one of them,
when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising
God with a loud voice; |
THE
BEGGAR IN
JERICHO
WHO WAS BLIND RESPONDS TO HIS HEALING BY GLORIFYING GOD. (Luke
18:43)
[43] And immediately he
received his sight and followed him, glorifying
God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. |
|
WHEN
THE CENTURION WITNESSES JESUS’ DEATH HE TOO GLORIFIES GOD. (Luke
23:47)
[47] Now when the
centurion saw what had taken place, he praised
God, and said, "Certainly this man was innocent!" |
THE
ANGELS WHO ANNOUNCE JESUS’ BIRTH PRAISE
GOD. (Luke 2:13)
[13]Suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising
God. |
THE
DISCIPLES PRAISE GOD FOR ALL THE
DEEDS OF POWER THEY HAD SEEN USING SIMILAR WORDS TO THE ANGELS’. (Luke
19:37-38) |
|
[37] As he was now drawing near, at the descent
of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise
God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, |
[38]
saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in
heaven and glory in the
highest!" |
THE
GOSPEL ENDS WITH THE DISCIPLES RETURNING TO
JERUSALEM
WITH GREAT JOY, PRAISING GOD. (Luke 24:53) |
[52] And they returned to
Jerusalem
with great joy, |
[53] and they were continually in the temple praising God. |
| The
Gospel begins and ends in JOY!
|
What
are the implications of this? |
PART 2
SONGS OF LUKE’S GOSPEL
See
how well you know Luke’s
Christmas story: This is an abridged version of Luke 1 and
2 to give you a taste of how much you know of this beautiful life-transforming
story of incarnate love.
5 In
the days of King H______ of
Judea
, there was a priest named Z____________ whose wife was E___________. 6Both
were righteous before God but they had no _________. An angel of the Lord
appeared to Zechariah, and fear overwhelmed him. 13But
the angel said, ‘Zechariah, your p_______ has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth
will bear a s_____, and you will name him J______. 14You
will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be
great in the sight of the Lord.
18Zechariah
said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an o_____ man,
and my wife is getting on in years.’ 19The
angel replied, ‘My name is G__________. I stand in the presence of God, and I
have been sent to bring you this good news. 20But
because you did not believe my words, you will be unable to s________, until the
day these things occur.’
24 After
those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in
seclusion. 26 In
the ___ month the angel named G________ was sent by God to a town in
Galilee
called N__________, 27to
a virgin engaged to a man whose name was ________, of the house of D_______. The
virgin’s name was _______. 28And
he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’*
29But
she was much perplexed and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The
angel said, ‘D_______ ____________, Mary, for you have found favour with God.
You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name
him________. 32He
will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High.’ 34Mary
said, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’*
35The
angel said to her, ‘The H_____S______ will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born*
will be holy; he will be called Son of God.
36And
now, your relative __________in her old age has also conceived a son; and this
is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For
nothing will be ____________with God.’ 38Then
Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it
________________________________.’ Then the angel departed from her. 39 In
those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill
country, 40where
she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted ___________. 41When
____________ heard Mary’s greeting, the child ____________________.
46 And
Mary said: THE
MAGNIFICAT “My
soul magnifies the Lord . . .”
Luke
1:46
-55
Sing
a favorite version of the Magnificat. Holden
Vespers has a lovely one.
56 And
Mary remained with her for about ______ months and then returned to her home. 57 Now the time came for ____________to give birth, and she
bore a son. 59 On
the _____day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him
____________after his father. 60But
his mother said, ‘No; he is to be called ______.’ 61They said to her, ‘None of your relatives has this name.’ 62Then
they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63He
asked for a writing-tablet and wrote, ‘His name is ______.’ And all of them
were amazed. 64Immediately
his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.
67 Zechariah
was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke:
THE
BENEDICTUS
“Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel
. . .”
Luke 1:67-79
Sing
a lovely version of this song of Zechariah.
“Blessed Be the God of Israel” in the With
One Voice Song Book is nice.
Then
follows the traditional Christmas story… “In those days a decree went out
from C_________A____________ that all the world should be enrolled.
You can read it in Luke 2 . .
. . . and suddenly there was with the angel a ______________of heavenly host, praising God and saying: THE
GLORIA“Glory
to God in the highest . . .”
Luke 2:14
The
traditional Christmas Carol “Angels We Have Heard on High” is a wonderful
Gloria.
Mary ponders all these things.
The shepherds return to the fields praising God.
After ____days are passed, the child is c______________ and named
________. When the time for
purification came according to the law of M______, they brought him to
J_____________. A man in
Jerusalem
, named S__________, was looking for the consolation of
Israel
and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It
had been revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the
Messiah. When Simeon saw _________
he took him in his arms and praised God saying:
THE
NUNC DIMITTUS 'Lord,
now you let your servant go in peace…’
Luke 2:29-32
My
favorite version of this song is in the Lutheran Book of Worship, Setting 2,
pages 93-94. (I'd like this sung
at my funeral – which, by the way, I hope isn’t for a long while!
But back to the story.)
And
the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.
Then Simeon blessed them and said to _______, his mother, “This child
is destined for the falling and rising of many in
Israel
and to be a sign that will be o_____________, so that the inner thoughts of
many will be revealed – and a s_________ will pierce your own s______ too.”
SEE,
YOU PRETTY MUCH HAVE THE STORY BY HEART – WHERE IT YEARNS TO BE – ON OUR
HEARTS AND IN OUR DAILY LIVES!
SOME QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
Pretty
strong ending to the story! We
so celebrate his coming.
| Why do
you think Jesus is opposed?
|
What might
help us continue to celebrate his transformative way of living?
|
| Do we
still oppose him once he’s grown up?
|
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